Andrew Loh –
On 6 July, I wrote about why Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, SMRT’s CEO, had missed the point about our trains and train stations being overcrowded. (See here) While she may have said that “people can board the trains, it is whether they choose to”, I felt that she seemed not to be aware of the safety aspects of such crowded trains and stations.
The perfect example of a potential safety hazard caused by overcrowding is Jurong East station. Each morning and evening, the station is so packed “that the commuters from the escalator were unable to get off the escalator when they reached the top.” This surely is an absurd situation.
According to this report, “[In] the morning at Jurong East station, the crowd transiting from the North-South line to the East-West line towards Pasir Ris had a lot of trouble boarding the train, and trains were not as frequent from that location.”
So, what has the SMRT done about this? It seems nothing.
The Second Minister for transport, Mrs Lim Hwee Hwa, would only say that “a new platform [is] being built at Jurong East MRT station.” (Today)
It is unclear when the platform will be ready or how Mrs Lim recommends the situation at Jurong East station be alleviated. It would seem that the “new platform” is considered the solution. That’s left to be seen.
But what happens in the meantime?
Commuters will have to put up with the situation. They have no choice especially when the CEO of the company responsible adopts a nonchalant and arrogant attitude, besides displaying total ignorance and a complete lack of empathy for what commuters have to face each morning.
It is time the SMRT took seriously the safety concerns which such overcrowding in stations, especially at Jurong East, poses.
If something untoward should happen, who is going to be held responsible? And even if someone were, it may be too late and of little comfort to those who may be affected.
For a start, perhaps the SMRT should focus on these problems instead of spending its time on a another absurdity - policing babies drinking from milk bottles in the trains.
And lastly, why aren’t the Members of Parliament for the Jurong area speaking up about this?
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“So, what has the SMRT done about this? It seems nothing.”
Erm, I have been a regular reader of TOC but to be fair to SMRT and the government this time around, seems like Andrew hasn’t visited Jurong East interchange for quite a while. The 4th track and the 3rd platform is being built right now and is scheduled to finish by 30th March 2011.
Link here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=856226
The fourth track is intended to alleviate the crowds at the station and improve train turnaround times when it is ready. Though this situation is likely to persist, it is that not the authorities has done nothing about it. Just give them a little more time for construction to complete.
According to STATISTICS… there is an average of only 3.8 persons on the platform of the Jurong East Station. This is far fewer than an average of seevn or eight persons on the platforms of stations in cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong or London…
Don’t beloeve? Somebody “Saw”
Oops! I mean 3.8 persons per sq metre. Sorry for this and other typos. Just wake up, eyes still blur and see this 2lan thing. X-(
@ Richard
Probably the trains arrive faster in the countries you mentioned. It seems that we are more packed even though the persons per sq metre is lower.
never mind lah. Let’s wait for someone to be injured first. Hopefully it happens during the election time so that those people in Jurong GRC will wake up and vote out the pap.
Speaking,
Either that or the SMRT statistics had been “massaged”.
I wonder if their “peak hour average” also takes into account the relatively emptier trains travelling in the opposite direction, yes, “during peak hours.”
The ugly truth of the matter is “THOSE IN POWER DO NOT BLOODY CARE “.
CEO SMRT doesn’t care. Minister Lim Hwee Hua doesnt’t care. They are there to give some lame public appearances and say something publicly and then that’s it.
Why the hell are we paying them so high for doing nothing more than making speeches and lousy ones at that!
WTF !
This is a “New flood” and LHL is going to bring in another 100,000 of such “talents” to shore up the population. This is another act of god? We will see if human unity can topple this self-proclaimed “god” who looks down on lesser mortal.
Is it possible to squeeze 8 person standing in 1 metre sq? We talking about average person ‘M’ size or ‘XS’ size? I find it quite impossible unless all 8 are really small built and don’t mind hugging each other, and it’s not practical is it?
Hey! This is serious overcrowding. What is SMRT doing to control crowd?
SMRT is a flop.
Call in SCDF to enforce their overcrowding rule. SMRT quick to enforce baby cannot drink milk rule but cannot follow SCDF rule do simple crowd control. SCDF must fine SMRT for obvious flouting of overcrowding – both in the trains and on the platforms.
Overcrowding is a serious fire safety hazard. People may die.
Poor foresight, underdesign, unstainable large population, infrastructure overload, weak policy implementation – all will cummulate to safety issues.
They need to have a serious or fatal case before they act. History will repeat itself.
Increase in train frequencies even as a temporary measure will not work due to overcrowding in the station platform. Both overcrowding and increase in train frequency present safety hazard.
CEO of SMRT can’t even see it coming. Sigh…
pang,
My question was: In the meantime, what is being done about the overcrowding? As you said, the new platforms will only be ready in March 2011 – that’s 8 months more to go.
In the meantime?
Andrew
Missing the wood for the trees.
Jurong East area is favourite residential area of FTs because of lowish rents and convenience to FT work places.
So overcrowding at station can be traced to FT immigration policy.
Dear All,
Please have sympathy for this super busy wonder woman CEO SMrt. Although she is the CEO, she is at the same time covering extra duties spanning across many spectrum of the govt agencies.
How does these sound to you all : Phaik Hwa sits on the
Singapore Management University Board of Trustees,
The Esplanade Board of Directors,
the National Environment Agency Board of Directrors,
Board of Trustees for the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Charity Fund,
Board of Trustees for the Youth Business Singapore,
Singapore Totalisator Board as Member of Sports Sub-Committee and
Council Member of the Singapore-Guangdong Collaboration Council.
As you can see, she is sooooo busy and has a whole load of non-SMRT related duties she cunt put her 100% attention on commuters problems. Please solve your own problems, squeeze a little bit here and there, have mercy on her so she can perform her other duties as well as she did in SMRT.
If you want to know her better, you can find more about her here :
http://tinyurl.com/sawphwa
Isn’t she marvellous…very marvellous i mean.
Saw and the MPs will ask you to get out of their elite uncaring face!!!
I doubt they’ll care coz they’ve not suffered the situation themselves – after all, they probably have cars to ferry themselves. MPs are always giving excuses and aren’t concerned much since they’re not the ones who’s suffering.
Dear steffi
Lesson for this busy woman as you call her is do something well instead of taking on so many roles until she cause public safety and inconvenient.
Do not wear a big hat when you head is only so small.
Ah Saw, if you are not interested in the safety of your passengers I hope you have provided sufficient insurance coverage for them. Otherwise, anything untoward happens your bottom line will be hit.
Now, that should wake you up a little, sleepy eyes.
on the one hand, gahment discourage the use of private cars. you have ERP, COE, etc. all these to discourage car ownership that will lead to traffic jams.
so what is the alternative ? Public transport. but if the public transport such as MRTs are overcrowded, then wtf do people do ?
the gahment squeeze us on all fronts and then when people spit at them, they wondered why ?
F—king idiots, i say. All of them all f__king idiots.
If there’s no solution we’d better start thinking about sprouting wings and fly!
hi georgia,
absolutely agree with you. perhaps another way of saying this is don’t wear the shoes that are too big for herself, else she will fall easily. but the sad thing here is that she has her best friend, the p.minister wife, to hold her and prevent her from falling.
my humble opinion is that the SMRT should be helmed by a professional qualified person, and if this lady wants to get involve, she can work in a marketing dept for them instead of her saying all the garbage things she had said. it goes to show that she is really ignorant of her job.
this is a case of a wrong person wearing this big pair of shoes…
To be fair, there is nothing SMRT can do. The trains are already running 1 – 2 mins apart. Any closer we might have congestions or worse accidents on the tracks. That will give them a chance to blame us, Singaporeans, again. Better to bear with the crowd than to die on the tracks.
Hi Kit,
You are such a noble commuter, so discerning towards the problems of SMRT, which is good (i supposed).
Perhaps you should look at it from the angle of a poor commuter, relying on this supposedly ‘national mode of transportation’.
It is very obvious somebody fouled up in their duties and responsibilities. From the macro point of view, there is an absolute lack of planning and coordination amongst the government agencies in creating this ‘sudden’ surge of crowds in many MRT stations. Do we have this problem in the early 2000′s?
The influx of foreigners, in huge numbers and the lack of infrastructural facilities to cater to the needs of these fellow human beings is indeed sinful on the part of the ‘highly-qualified-over-paid’ creme de creme, the best of our motherland.
This is not a solitary problem, it is the result of a string of decisions/policies made to jump-start what the people in power want to show as an impressive wayang, to look good to others and to continue to be praised by the international communities.
Err, yes, it backfired and we the commoners have to suffer for it. Housing prices are inflated to an all time high, the result of the same problems that caused the over crowded trains and buses. By the time our children grow up, they will be looking at HDB flats in the millions dollar range. Is that good for you?
Jobs are scarce for Singaporeans, why? We have overly employer-friendly business climate where some businesses are allowed to employ foreigners (initially due to lack of ‘talents’). However it has evolved into a norm to employ foreigners for so many jobs primarily due to lower wages for these willing workers.
The problems are snowballing, one day you will be affected. And if we continue to be as discerning as you are, without voicing them up, we are heading for catastrophe for ourselves.
It is good to be compassionate and feel for others problems but it will be foolish to condone these sins of the decision makers, most of them misplacing their social priority.
………FROM CUMMUTERS THAT ARE PUSHED FROM THE PLATFORM ONTO THE MRT TRACKS.
During peak hours, trains may come often. But they’re still as jam-packed as the stations themselves. The root of the problem? Overpopulation. You simply can’t squeeze too much stuff into a small container. Force too many people into a small island, many problems emerge. Instead of solving the problem caused by overpopulation, the gov takes the chance to earn more money by citing increase in demand & increasing the price of housing, food & transport.
There simply isn’t enough space nor resources to support such a huge population. & yet, the gov appears totally ignorant to this fact & continues to pump in more people to boost the economy which in turn increase their salaries.
Obviously many people are there during the peak hours who can adjust their traveling time to earlier or later. The way to make people adjust is to implement a peak hour surchage.
Right now there are reports of overcrowding at various MRT stations during the rush hour. The SMRT has said earlier this month that it cannot increase the frequency of trains further. This means that there is no choice but to curb rush hour demand for the SMRT.
We see the same principles applied to solve other problems in Singapore. Too many cars during rush hour? Double the ERP charges. Not enough hospital beds at public hospital reduce the subsidy and increase the charges through means testing. Not enough over night car parks – double the parking charges.
The same solution can be applied to solve the MRT crowd problem. By making the peak hour ticket more expensive. It will encourage people to travel at the non-peak hours to avoid paying higher ticket prices.
I expect the MRT ticket price during the peak hour to be increased very soon. That will help to offset the decline in profits of 21% in the last quarter.
BUT THEN, TINK SCDF ‘NO BALLS’ TO CHECK ON SMRT
I agree. U guys better not complain anymore or they will impose peak hour mrt surcharge to “solve” your problem.
Just remember to vote wisely.
Pang / Speaking – in other countries, although the trains arrive much faster , they are longer carriages!!! It might not help to a certain extent. It alleviate the problem at Jurong East but this turn around brings the crowds to other stations. The expansion should be for all stations but its next to impossible ya? The problem at J East is this, the thru trains to Pasir Ris have to wait at the tracks. I forsee that with more turn around, more trains have to stop, there is only a very small window for the next train to arrive. Putting in more trains is bound to cause an accident, human errors, we are not immune from it.
pugdragon – You are quite right, our space and resources are not meant to take in more people, even if more foreigners come in, they also need space to unwind. If they feel stressed at this, they will add to the problem.
“You die your business. We don’t travel in lesser mortal transport.”
By the way, Ms Saw was Ms Ho’s ex-colleague in the 80s (either Mindef or Singapore Technologies)…..
i donch understand why must charge More for peak hours. this move has Not solved many problems.
why not charge LESS for non-peak hours? give pple a reason to travel then.
also why not stagger start times when people must be at work?
As a possible short-term solution, SMRT should run an express bus service from the few stations before and after Jurong East to the City.
To encourage commuters to take the bus instead of MRT, this service should be offered at subsidised / reduced rates. And, SMRT should have officials at the station entrances to encourage commuters to take this service.
This is not my idea but Ms Saw herself suggested it. What is she and her company waiting for? Doing feasibility studies to figure out how to maximise the profitability of such a service?
Just do it before something serious happens!
…… SO FAR THEY ONLY HAD SINGLE CASUALTY EXPERIENCES.
for change to happen, death must occur? just like the Commando Dunking Incident, MRT track jumping (then review to put up half height barrier), fallen tree taking a life due to uprooting…
NSP has been doing walkabouts in Hong Kah and Reform Party in Boon Lay. I say make it an election issue. if there is issue that is so close to Jurong residents it’s the crush at Jurong East every morning! Oppo parties pls take note
Jurong GRC is a good choice to contest. Residents here had to put up with thousands of bangas/FW every day and night. They cycled without care and throw litters, urinate everywhere and their behaviour is not to the liking of any local residents would like. Be it pioneer mall, jurong point, central park and any place you can find in Jurong, they are hordes of them.
It has been a security naightmare for any lady walking back home late when right downstairs are plenty of bangas. What has the town council and GRC MPs been doing? They not only have not helped ask NEA whether the AIR in Jurong is clean for living? Should Jurong people be short changed for everything from space to walk around parks, to the air we breathe, to the heavy traffic jams due to Jurong Island and the growing FT population in a Jurong HDB estates?
And now the GOV still dare to trouble Jurong residents by building the stupid YOG village at NTU@Jurong West and increasing the burden of the already heavily packed traffic at all the major roads. Is Jurong a dustbin ESTATE in the eyes of PAP gov? Are we not tax payers too?
Somtime i think i live in a FOREIGN COUNTRY. I havent yet mentioned that MRT are so crowded with FT and Bangas and it is really tough. Given an election now i will not hesitate to vote an opposition since the incumbent cant do anything at all.
Bishan is getting there.
They should control the number of people on the platform.
They know the problem and yet no action is taken, silly.
Better if the people wait outside the MRT station, then on the platform.
I noticed any quick evacuation will certainly cause choas and injury.
Use the arrival time board and tell people…. platforms full, so people can wait or use the card scanning slide.
SCDF had taken a court order to prevent Mustaffa Centre from operating for 72 hours – due to the poor crowd control and heavy traffic flow in the various departments that posed safety concerns in the event of fire.
Has SCDF commented on the crowd control methods at the various MRT situation – especially during peak hours ?
When commuters reaching the top of the escalator cannot get off – due to the overcrowded situation at the upper level – it can lead to a deadly crush from the rear that is also arriving to the top.
Surely, an accident is waiting to happen.
It seems that SCDF will only go about bullying a hapless private enterprise, but will not dare to intervene in the affairs of a member of the Million Dollar elite from the Pro Alien Party.
steffi:”It is very obvious somebody fouled up in their duties and responsibilities.”
The root of the problems is that the PAP government open wide the gates of Singapore to let in large numbers of foreigners; many of them are not really qualified.
Singaporeans (66.6%) are to blame for voting the PAP again and again. They have been screwed by the PAP but come back for more.
Another fantastic design flaw by the Lion city transport planners.
This is good and I don’t see a problem. To manage a profitable company the CEO is doing the right move. Here are 2 things what a CEO can do.
1. Continue to make size 4 − 11 but not size 12 shoes.
2. Make only size 12 shoe so that everyone can fit in.
In Singapore some people want the Govt to do better than God, in God’s world trees can fall in a thunderstorm but in Singapore trees cannot fall. If you have 2 millions trees and non can fall in a thunderstorm than I think your trees are real special.
The Transport minister did not get ready PAP forecaster’s plan to bring in extra few million slaves, so they did not build the MRT big enough to carry all the slaves.
Now they need to tax the people and build more infrastructure for slave city.
The CEO got no power, only the Father and the Son, they must agree and all things can happen.
The MRT concept was said to be the late Mr Ong Teng Cheong’s idea in the late 70s and early 80s, which was almost aborted due to differences in city management within the Cabinet. It was supposedly to cater to a certain number of population size, definitely not 5mil or 6mil!
But little did Mr Ong and the team expect the government to bring in FTs at a rate that the public transportation can hardly manage. Now we are seeing the fruits of the shortsightedness, sloppiness in planning and also total disregard of the impact of massive immigration policies of the post-90s PAP.
To build a larger tent or house, you need to enlarge the foundation and structure first. We have ‘enlarged’ the house without catering to the foundation and structure.
Singapore MRTs are getting more n more delays recently!!! anyone notice it?!?!!!
i meet with at least 5 delays in 2weeks time recently!!! almost 50% of my rides!!!! took mi 45mins from bishan to yeetew! SCREW up by SMRT!!!
Why must a PUBLIC TRANSPORT be privatise to make money??
Izzn’t public transport suppose to provided by government to the citizen like most countries and remain a non profitable organisation?? Taking care of the citizens walfare as priority. LOOK at their annual profit margins!!
Unique Singapore AGAIN??! Do PRIVATISATION always increase effeciency? NO! Look at the numerous screw ups! Cant government sectors capable of doing a good job of it?
Its just an evil way of sucking the people dry through PRIVATISATION of these companys! And who are this CEOs of the semi government companys??!! u can guess it urself!
Coz a private company always care more about profits then the walfare of the citizens!!!
MAKE SENSE??
Truely Uniquely Singapore AGAIN…
How to board when commuters from FOUR trains from TWO different directions wait for ONE damn train?
Why 4? Because 2 trains from each direction (from Joo Koon and from Pasir Ris) arrives at Jurong East and there’s still none arriving on the middle platform! Are you trying to tell us that your trains on the middle platform are 4x bigger?
Dear Saw Phaik Hwa… Can board? Are you sure? Why don’t you try not driving to work/home, come and try to see if you can board, or not? Board? More like “wait for train until bored”! Board my ass. F**king bird brain CEO.
Championgrumbler – You are right and I thought of this too. Unless the trains are longer or more carriages and timing increased which can’t anymore, the crowd cannot clear fast enough. I think it will create a situation of more people on the platform!! What I predict is there will be more waiting of trains further down the tracks waiting for the forward train to leave the station.
walamak
if the elites take the mrt train,
will this happen?
why elites not take mrt train,
this happen?
walamak
ACACIA, exactly.. this is happening everyday during peak hours and especially so from 6pm-7pm. Madness. That’s why I said bird brian CEO. No Action Talk Only (NATO).